The Rt. Rev. James M. Adams Jr. says he has a ready answer when people ask why he would return to parish ministry after only seven years as a bishop.

“If you’ve ever been a bishop, you would know,” he said.

“In 20 some-odd years as a parish priest, I never missed a day of God’s joy,” he said. “Being a bishop today is not what it once was. It’s more of being an administrator.”

Still, Bishop Adams, who has served the Diocese of Western Kansas since 2002, also speaks with clear affection for the Episcopalians he will leave behind in March 2010, when he moves to Lecanto, Fla.

“I have a lot of respect for these people. They have endured and survived every situation that has come their way,” he said. “They have survived, despite everything that has happened in the church, everything that has happened in the economy and everything that has happened in the world. That says a lot about them and their love of their Lord.”

Bishop Adams will be in “fat city” in Lecanto compared to West Kansas. For 2008, there was only ONE parish in West Kansas with Plate & Pledge over $150 thousand. The average Members was 70, average ASA was 27, and average Plate & Pledge was $30 thousand. In 2008, his mission in Lecanto had 285 Members, 125 ASA and $160 thousand in Plate & Pledge. Statmann

A question: given the relative smallness of Episcopal dioceses (not a bad thing in and of itself), can’t the Canon to the Ordinary handle administrative details and let the bishop form and impart a vision for the diocese, teach, be a pastor to his priests, and do the other things a bishop ought to do? Clearly he has a pastor’s heart (and God bless him for that!); isn’t there an organizational means to free him for that ministry as a bishop?